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The Rescue of France. 



A DISCOURSE 



SPOKEN BEFORE A MEETING OP FRENCH GENTLEMEN, IN 
PHILADELPniA, AT THE 



ASSEMBLY BUILDINGS 



Mnrc7i 7/?t, JS72, 



^y KEV. C MIEL. 



TRANSLATED BY EDWARD ROTH. 



PHILADELPHIA: 
KING & BAIRD, PRINTERS, 607 AND 609 SANSOM STREET. 
1872. 



The Rescue of France. 



A DISCOURSE 

SPOKEN BEFORE A MEETING OP FRENCH GENTtiEMEN, IN 
PniLADELPHIA, AT THE 

ASSEMBLY BUILDINGS, 
March 7th, /872, 



By BEV. O. MIEL. 



TRANSLATED BY EDWARD ROTH. 

PHILADELPHIA: 
KING & BAIRD, PRINTERS, 607 AND 009 SANSOM STREET. 

1872. 






Whilst reading in the original the following eloquent and 
ioucliing discourse (not with dry eyes it must be confessed), the 
idea .occurred to the translator, of performing his little part in a 
great act of charity by laying before the American people — the 
generous nation par excellence — an affecting appeal which, 
though exclusively intended for natives of France, cannot but 
arouse the sympathy of every humane breast. 

Words cannot describe the present sufferings of France, the 
kindly, the genial, the high spirited, "whom we all love so 
well," once our faithful and fast friend (in the gloomy days 
when fast and faithful friends were few indeed), once so 
glorious and happy, but now writhing under the heel of a 
foreign master and suffering such afflictions in consequence 
that even a stranger to her soil and blood cannot help con- 
tributing his small mite towards bringing them to the earliest 
possible termination. 

Our German brethren must not misunderstand us ; had they 
been overwhelmed by similar misfortunes, they too should be 
entitled to our active sympathy, and would receive it ! 

Messrs. King «& Baird, with their well known liberality, have 
generously offered to bear half the expense of this edition. 

EDWARD ROTH. 

Bboad Street Academy, 

Phila., April 3, 1873. 






^^ ADDRESS. 



Gentlemen : — .^ bunclred and fifty years ago, 
France, invaded by tlie English, a prey to internal dis- 
sensions, was threatened with slavery and ruin ; the 
world believed that our lovely country was about to 
disappear forever, and with it, civilization. King, 
Church, Nobility, the only powers then existing, were 
plunged in despair. But in the midst of this universal 
despondence, it came to pass that one young girl had 
the faith ! A peasant of the Meuse valley, meeting 
her one evening on the road near her village, told 
her what misfortunes had befallen her coantr3\ 
" Well !" she cried, her countenance blazing with 
inspiration, " there is a poor shepherdess now living 
who shall deliver this kingdom before a year is 
over !" And, in fact, shortly after, Joan of Arc 
starts on her mission of deliverance. Through what 
trials, through wliat dangers, she had to pass, before 
accomplishing her task, God alone knows. But the 
day at last comes when we behold her advancing, 
like some celestial visitant, mounted on a black 
charger, glittering in snow white armor, in one hand 
her sword, in the other the oriflamme ! The people 
fall on their knees as she moves before them ! All 



at ouee, quick as lightning, she rushes to the charge, 
terrible, but at the same time merciful. With one 
gesture she levels fortresses, with another she 
sweeps away armies. The English, astounded, over- 
whelmed, retire in discomfiture. France is saved, 
and it is the faith of a peasant girl of Lorraine that 
has wrought the miracle ! 

I need not, gentlemen, point you out the melan- 
choly analogy existing between the present state of 
our beloved France and that to which I have just 
alluded. I need not remind you of her purest blood 
shed in torrents, her treasures robbed, her fairest 
provinces ravaged, a portion of her territory still 
trampled on by the enemy's heel, and, to crown her 
woes, a number of her children abandoning them- 
selves to a blind and accursed party spirit, and fighting 
desperately over the little spoil still left to their un- 
happy mother. " Oh God I save us or we perish !" 
is the instinctive cry now resounding through the 
length and the breadth of the land, the only cry uttered 
by all who have the welfare of their country really 
at heart. And this last cry has been heard ! God 
will save France ! Not by the ordinary means — in a 
situation so deplorable, ordinary means are of little 
avail. God will save us ! Not by the wisdom of 
our rulers, not by the valor of our soldiers, not by 
the perfection of our instruments of warfare, but, as 
in the fifteenth century, by miracles of faith, pa- 
triotism, and love ! 

For, in truth, what voice is this we hear sounding 
in the east, sweet enough to be called celestial, loud 



enough to move the world ? It is the voice of the 
humble maidens of Alsace and Lorraine, the voice 
of the worthy sisters of Joan of Arc. What sublim- 
ity is in their simple language ! 

" Mr. President^ our offering is indeed small, hut all 
of us, even the poorest, have contributed our share. 
Please to accept it and employ it for the ransom of 
France, our beloved mother, from whose dear bosom 
violence has indeed been able to tear us, but to lohom we 
have devoted forever oar aspirations and our hearts.'^ 

At the sound of this voice what an indescribable 
emotion takes possession of our souls 1 The image 
of our country, a moment ago veiled in sorrow and 
mourning, is transformed before our eyes : the em- 
blems of grief and sufiering fall from around her, 
and she rises before her children more beautiful, 
noble and enchanting, than even in dreams 1 At 
such a sight, these children are at once inspired with 
a new love, and are ready to testify it by sacrifices 
of all kinds, by sacrifices the most heroic ! Never 
has the world witnessed a more sublime spectacle 1 
l!Tever before has it seen patriotism purer, more self- 
denying, or more courageous 1 

My language, gentlemen, is strong, I am well 
aware, and, even now when facts bear me out, doubt, 
I know, is only natural. Accordingly, at the first 
proposal of the project, it is not wonderful, that the 
idea of France, so impoverished, so degenerate — as 
some friends kindly intimated — being still capable of 
anything so manly, so great, requiring such marvel- 
lous devotion — it is not wonderful, I say, that this 



idea provoked at first a smile of pity among foreign- 
ers, and even found many skeptics among our own 
countrymen. You can read in the Nineteenth Cen- 
tury something like the following, written by M. 
Sarcey, the editor : — " The very day I wrote my first 
article in favor of the work, an assistant called and 
said : ' I bet five francs this subscription never 
reaches a million ?' I put down my five francs. Two 
days after he comes and says : ' I want to win back 
my money ; I now bet five francs your subscription 
never reaches twenty millions.' ' Done !' cried I ; 
' the city of Lille alone has pledged itself for that 
sum. To give you a further chance of winning back 
your money, I now bet that the subscription will 
rise to a hundred millions, and if you come here in a 
few days I will bet it rises to five hundred millions, 
and I am bound to win my wager too.' " Yes, gen- 
tlemen, most assuredly he shall win his wager. 

For, the grand idea of making sacrifices without 
stint or limit for our country's ransom, has taken 
root everywhere, and is manifesting itself in forms^: 
the most diverse and the most surprising. The 
enthusiasm is universal and irresistible. From all 
directions are subscriptions coming ; in all directions 
are committees organizing. Churches and theatres, 
colleges and workshops, the administration and the 
army, all take their part in it. The soldier gives 
every month one day's pay : the artisan one day's 
labor. Some officials offer the tenth part of their 
salary ; some deputies the whole of it. Here, the 
widow of a member of the Institute writes : " I ask 




no pension until the day when our dear country 
shall be completely free — what more can I do?" 
There, a veteran laborer writes in his turn : " I am 
only an old workman, living with my poor wife on 
crusts slowly and painfully collected. ISo matter, 
I'm good for three hundred francs." And the noble 
fellow adds : " Keep ray name private ; I give it to 
you only because I consider my engagement a debt 
of honor." Yes, brother, we shall respect thy gen- 
erous delicacy; we shall not seek to know thy 
glorious name ; let it be enough for ns to know that 
it is written in the great book of Him who recom- 
penses a hundred fold even a cup of cold water 
given in charity ! 

What other examples shall I mention ? Standing 
beside the merchant, who cries in his excitement: 
" I will give a hundred thousand francs, two hun- 
dred thousand francs, all I can !" — is a peasant 
from the neighborhood of Paris, ruined by the 
war, but oifering the last and only thing left to 
him, his poor cow, and begging them with tears 
not to refuse his sacrifice. Here again, is a young 
girl bringing everything she possesses of any value, 
bits of earrings and poor old jewelry, and, ashamed 
of her poverty, timidly adding: "I will give an 
hour's work every week besides." Perhaps it was 
under the inspiration of such a touching example, 
that a noble lady proposed to the women of 
France to surrender all their diamonds and pearls at 
once to their country, so that at the sight of a lady 
wearing no jewelry, every one could say: "she must 



8 

be French — she must belong to the Legion of Honor 
of French women!" 

I cannot resist the pleasure of here quoting the 
admirable words employed by a Sister of Charity in 
Paris, when asking to have the nuns all through 
France included in the noble work of the tax of 
honor. "Usually," she writes, "the Sister of Charity's 
privilege is to ask; now she solicits the honor of 
being allowed to give. Lot the lad}'- directors of the 
committees come then and receive her mite ; and 
write her name on their list between the grand dame 
of fashion and the poor servant girl ; between the 
Protestant minister's wife and the Jewish maiden ; 
let all social classes, let all religious beliefs, unite for 
once in friendly embrace to the cry of Vive la 
Fi-ance r 

Such, gentlemen, is this sublime emulation of 
patriotism, this noble ambition ^to disenthrall our 
country at the earliest possible moment, and to save 
her at any cost. It has gained all hearts; it has 
penetrated all conditions ; it has wiped out all divi- 
sions ; it has conquered all narrow considerations of 
self; and that not only within the boundaries of 
France, but all over the world, wherever beneath 
the breast of man, and still better, beneath the breast 
of woman, a true French heart is beating! 

In Italy and in Belgium, in Switzerland ever 
faithful, in Ireland ever devoted, in Loudon and in 
New York, from St. Petersburgh to San Francisco, 
from Montreal to New Orleans, everywhere., the celes- 
tial voice of our sisters of Alsace and Lorraine, has 



9 

found a sympathetic and responsive echo ! And 
thus — miracle of Divine Wisdom ! — it is by the two 
daughters that she has lost that France, our mother, 
shall be saved ! 

That she has lost ! But is it true that we liave lost 
our two fixir provinces of the east? l^o doubt, our 
enemies arc ruling there to-day, but they do not 
reign there ! No doubt, they hold the soil with the 
gripe of a master ; but there is a fortress there which 
shall brave forever all the efforts of their army and 
their artillery, however formidable. It is the heart ! 
Yes ! the heart, the great and noble heart of these 
conquered provinces, still clings to France their 
mother, clings to her with a desperate rapture of 
fidelity that provokes the astonished admiration of 
the world. Therefore, be convinced of this truth : 
whoever has the heart is the master ; to whoever 
possesses the heart, the possession of the rest is only 
a question of time. 

France shall be saved, I have already said, but is 
that enough to say ? When in the eleventh centurj', 
after the long lethargy of the middle ages, the 
French, our ancestors, all, gentle and simple, great 
lords, barons, vassals and peasants, sprang to arms 
at the crj' of " God wills it !" when, abandoning 
fortune, family, and country, they pressed forward 
on the steps of the Frenchman, Peter the Hermit, 
towards the distant Orient, what task did they pro- 
pose themselves to accomplish? Simply to rescue 
our Lord's sepulchre ; and they did it. But without 
being aware of it, they did much more; they 



10 

founded the French nationality ; tliey inaugurated 
a new society ; they opened the era of modern 
civilization, the ever-enlarging career of freedom 
and progress. Their intention had been only to 
rescue the tomb of Christ ; as a reward for their 
faith and sacrifices, they brought back' from the 
east to the west, the spirit of Christ himself, his 
spirit of light, life and wisdom ! 

In like manner, gentlemen, the sublime enthusiasm 
now swaying France in this new solemn moment of 
her history, shall not have the rescue of the national 
soil for its only result. It has another and a greater 
object ! The restoration, the redemption of France 
herself! — of France, lately so despised, reviled, down- 
trodden, but now showing herself to the world reju- 
venated through suffering, radiant with ixew dignity, 
and ready once more to start anew, full of hope and 
love, on a brighter and more glorious career. Already 
she is attracting the sympathies of the world ; already 
her habitual detractors are passing visibly from sur- 
prise to admiration, and, ashamed of having made 
such a strange mistake, are trying to stammer forth a 
timid apology. Pardon them, my France — let me 
say it without blasphemy — they knew not what they 
were doing. Accept even, if so it must be, the part of 
the Magdalen of JSTations, which they have allotted 
to thee — even that is not without its glory — and full 
of confidence in the words of Him who has said : 
" Many sins are forgiven to her, because she has 
loved much," receive once more courage into thy 
heart purified by charity ; lift up once more thy poor 



11 

head without shame, for it is glittering with the 
aureola of a martyr. Yes, my country, my well 
beloved — in the glowing language of one of thy 
sons — 

" In vain with agonizpcl heart hast thou gazed on thy cities in 

ruins ; 
In vain in countless heaps have thy noblest been slaughtered 

around thee ; 
In vain hast thou fought, void of hope, to the last 'gainst a foe 

overwhelming ; 
Still, never despair, O France I again thou shall rise up uncon- 

quered. 

" Stronger than ever thou'lt rise, the throes of thy martyrdom 
ended ; 

Free from the harpies despoiling, free from the rulers corrupting ; 

Poor, but honest and proud ! O France, my country, what mat- 
ters 

One year more or less ? Thy empire shall flourish forever. 

"Let them pile then thy hard earned gold in heaps on their 
wagons enormous ; 

On the food of thy starving poor, let them gorge their fat bodies 
to bursting ; 

Thy time is coming, France, and the era is not very distant 

When tlce land shall belong to the kindly, not to the barbarous mas- 
ter/'' 

"Whether that shall be so, gentlemen, depends to- 
day on the eftbrts of us all collectively, and of each 
of us individually. Our sisters in Philadelphia, imi- 
tating our sisters in Lorraine and Alsace, and our 
sisters throughout the length and breadth of France, 
invoke our co-operation in a work which cannot be 
less dear to us than it is even to them. This co-op- 



12 

eration we shall give without hesitation, without 
calculation, with real joy, with all the zeal of the 
most ardent patriotism. jSTever have we been, and • 
let us hope that we never again shall be, called upon 
to repair, according to our means, more frightful 
disasters, to devote our energies to a greater and 
holier cause, or one more powerfully affecting our 
honor and our destiny. Let this double consideration 
determine the grandeur of the sacrifice we are going 
to offer, the generosity of the donation we are going 
to lay on the altar of our country. At such a 
moment, the least concession made to the vile voice 
of selfishness should press on our consciences forever 
with the leaden wei'^ht of remorse, should brand our 
foreheads forever with the burning stigma of infamy. 
To give simply from our over-abundance, or even to 
give all our over-abundance, should not suffice ; our 
duty and our dignit}^ as Frenchmen require, in such 
an extreme crisis as the present, that, whether our 
fortune is great or little, we should sensibly diminish 
it — diminish it so that we may always think with 
pride on the effects of our sacrifice, as we always 
point with pride to the noble scar gained in battling 
for the defence and the honor of our country. In a 
word, let the act of generosity that we are about to 
perform, be of such a nature as to mark an era in 
our existence, so that its very memory, like some 
divine odor, shall be sufficient to bless, embalm and 
console the rest of our days in this world. 
I have spoken. ISfow then, to work 1 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



I 

019 648 995 2 






( 



'Ihe 'price of this Pamphlet is Twenty-five Cents ^ 
payable to Edward Eoth, No. SS7 South Broad Street, 
in behalf of the Broad Street Academy Fund, for the 
Liberation of France from Foreign occupaMon, to be 
collected by the pupils and other members of the School, 
and transmitted directly to M. Thiers, President of the 
French Bepid)lic. 



